Trump: US 'will take over' Gaza, without Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump

'Everybody I've spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land,' Trump said

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

What happened

President Donald Trump Tuesday said the U.S. "will take over the Gaza Strip" and rebuild it into a "world class" and "unbelievable place" for "the world's people," after the Palestinians who call it home abandon their bombed-out enclave.

Who said what

"I do see a long-term ownership position" for the U.S. in Gaza, Trump said in White House appearances with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and "everybody I've spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land" and developing it into something "magnificent," like "the Riviera of the Middle East." Trump said he "strongly" believed Gazans would only stay "because they have no alternative," and would be "thrilled" to "get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy."

Asked how many Palestinians should leave, Trump said, "all of them," and pressed repeatedly on whether he would force them out, he said: "I don't think they're going to tell me no." He "didn’t rule out sending U.S. forces to hold Gaza, a deployment that could launch the kind of long-term American military occupation in the Middle East that Trump has long decried," The Wall Street Journal said. Forcibly removing populations also violates the Geneva Conventions.

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Trump has "completely lost it," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said. "He wants a U.S. invasion of Gaza, which would cost thousands of American lives and set the Middle East on fire for 20 years? It's sick." Netanyahu "would not be drawn into discussing the proposal in depth other than to praise Trump for trying a new approach," Reuters said. Trump, he said, states "things others refuse to say, and after the jaws dropped, people scratch their heads and they say, 'You know, he's right.'"

What next?

Following Trump's comments, the United States' Western allies reiterated their firm support for an independent Palestinian state including Gaza, as did Saudi Arabia, adding that it will not "establish diplomatic relations with Israel" until that happens.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.